breakingbadfandomcom-20200223-history
Smoke
|next = |synopsis = Jimmy struggles to cope with Chuck's tragic death. Mike ponders his role at Madrigal. Howard makes a startling confession. |viewers = TBA }} "Smoke" is the first episode of the fourth season of Better Call Saul and the thirty-first episode of the series altogether. Summary Teaser In present-day Omaha, "Gene" is tended to by parademics and wheeled out of the Cinnabon on a stretcher following his fainting spell. At the hospital, he is examined and given a clean bill of health. As he is being released, "Gene" is held up by the nurse at the front desk, who is having trouble entering his fake ID and Social Security numbers into a computer, causing "Gene" to become nervous at the possible exposure of his true identity. The nurse realizes she has mistyped the numbers, and when they go through, she allows "Gene" to leave. "Gene" tries to take a taxi back to the mall, but immediately spots an Albuquerque Isotopes air freshener hanging from the cabbie's rear-view mirror. He further notices the cabbie staring intently at him, as if he recognizes him, to the point that he doesn't drive through a green light. "Gene" asks to be let out in a residential neighborhood. As he walks away -- at one point kneeling down to pretend to tie his shoes -- "Gene" sees that the taxi doesn't drive off. Act I In 2003, Jimmy wakes up in bed next to Kim and begins his morning routine. While he is circling job ads in the paper, he receives a call on his cell phone from Howard that he doesn't answer. As Jimmy helps Kim with her cast, Howard leaves a message on her voicemail informing them of Chuck's death in a house fire. Jimmy and Kim race to Chuck's fire-gutted house, where Jimmy sees the coroner's van with Chuck's body driving away. After talking to one of the firefighters, Kim tells him that the fire was caused by a knocked-over gas lantern and that Chuck died from smoke inhalation. Jimmy notes the electrical appliances strewn in Chuck's backyard and, recalling their last encounter, realizes that something triggered a relapse in Chuck's EHS delusion in the time between then and the fire. Act II After he ends his final shift at the toll booth, Mike plays with Kaylee as she tends to the garden in his backyard. Stacey arrives to pick up Kaylee, and Mike tells her that he can do the task for her for the rest of the week since can "keep his own hours" with his new job. Mike finds an envelope containing his first paycheck from Madrigal Electromotive in his mail, and sees that his net pay is over $10,000. As he watches baseball on TV, Mike gets restless and makes a phone call to ask for Madrigal's address in Las Cruces. Meanwhile, at her apartment, Kim finds Jimmy staring blankly at a running sink. She hands him the phone, as Howard wants to hear Jimmy's feedback on Chuck's planned obituary. As Howard recites Chuck's career and accomplishments, Jimmy puts the phone down and sits silently in the living room. Kim approves the obituary on Jimmy's behalf and sits next to him, offering shots from their Zafiro Añejo tequila bottle. Jimmy drinks one shot and continues sitting silently, while Kim eventually finishes the bottle and falls asleep. Act III Immediately after Hector is driven away in an ambulance, Nacho is left standing in the lot of the upholstery shop with Gus. As Gus makes a call on his cell phone to Juan Bolsa, Nacho notices a broken sewer grate on the ground and moves to covertly drop his vial of tainted nitro pills into it. However, he has to abort when Gus ends the call and tells him that Bolsa wants a word. At the Los Pollos Hermanos chicken farm, Nacho and Arturo meet with Bolsa, who tells them that the Salamancas will keep their territory despite Hector's apparent stroke and that the pair will take a package the following day. After Nacho and Arturo are dismissed, Bolsa confers with Gus, who believes that someone will make a move on the Salamancas that will trigger a drug war and attract the DEA. Meanwhile, Nacho drives to a bridge and dumps the pills into a river. Unbeknownst to him, he is being watched by Victor, who has placed a tracker on Nacho's pickup truck. Act IV Using identification stolen from a Madrigal employee, Mike infiltrates their Las Cruces warehouse and drives around the facility on a golf cart. After Mike interacts with several workers, searches through the warehouse inventory, and ruffles through their trash, he tracks down the employee he stole the identification from and gives it back. Speaking with the manager, Mike identifies himself as a "security consultant" and lists the many potential breaches he has found while exploring the warehouse. When the manager expresses incredulousness, Mike tells him to contact Madrigal's corporate office and ask for Lydia. Jimmy attends Chuck's funeral with Kim, and is given condolences by Cliff Main, Rick Schweikart, and others. The only people who don't approach Jimmy are Howard and Chuck's ex-wife, Rebecca. When they arrive home from the funeral, Jimmy and Kim find Howard sitting on the curb outside their apartment. Inside, Howard tells them that he thinks Chuck committed suicide, and explains how he forced Chuck out of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill when the firm's insurer raised their rates over Chuck's mental illness. Howard -- unaware of Jimmy's role in the incident -- blames himself for Chuck's death. Jimmy coldly replies that that's "his cross to bear." Howard and Kim are stunned as Jimmy nonchalantly feeds his fish and makes coffee. Official Photos Better-Call-Saul-401-mike-ehrmantraut-jonathan-banks_935x658.jpg Better-Call-Saul-401-Kim-Wexler-Rhea-Seehorn_935x658.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-gene-odenkirk-2-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-gene-odenkirk-3-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-gene-odenkirk-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-mike-banks-2-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-jimmy-odenkirk-2-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-mike-banks-3-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-jimmy-odenkirk-935.jpg better-call-saul-episode-401-mike-banks-935.jpg Trivia *It's confirmed that Hector had a stroke at the end of . *The conversation between two Madrigal employees about who would win a duel between Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee is very similar to the kinds of conversations that Badger and Skinny Pete could have in Breaking Bad. *Sam, Raquel and another Cinnabon employee appear on the episode's promotional photos, but only Sam is visible during the episode and is credited for her appearance, the others seem to have been cut in the editing. *Mark Margolis does not appear in the credits of this episode, probably because the images of Hector come from . *When Jimmy looks at job offers in the newspaper, we can see an offer for the Lazer Base and for Beneke Fabricators. *After leaving the hospital, "Gene" asks the taxi driver to drop him off at the Cottonwood Mall, which happens to be a mall in New Mexico where the Cinnabon scenes are shot. Vince Gilligan has revealed in the Better Call Saul Insider Podcast of this episode that it is an ease, but that it is indeed the name of the fictional mall in which the the Omaha Cinnabon is located, in the Better Call Saul universe. *The song played during Chuck's service (Sicilienne, Op. 78 by Gabriel Fauré) is the same song he was practicing at the beginning of . Production Credits Starring= Starring * Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill * Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut * Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler * Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin * Michael Mando as Nacho Varga * Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring |-| Guest Starring= Guest Starring * Ed Begley Jr. as Clifford Main * Javier Grajeda as Juan Bolsa * Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut * Ann Cusack as Rebecca Bois * Dennis Boutsikaris as Richard Schweikart * Jordan Lage as Barry Hedberg * Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor * Vincent Fuentes as Arturo * Ericka Kreutz as Receptionist * Don Harvey as TBA (mysterious cab driver) * Brendan Jennings as Madrigal Employee * Bechir Sylvain as Madrigal Employee |-| Co-Starring= Co-Starring * Sarah Minnich as Brenda * James E. Dowling as Francis * Luis Bordonada as Brian Archuleta * Abigail Zoe Lewis as Kaylee * Huy Nguyen as ER Doctor * Jennifer Bailey as X-Ray Technician * Dominic Gallegos as Omaha EMT * Marvin Gouch as Fire Chief * Ernest David Tsosie as Carl * Matt Bailey as Facility Manager * Jerry G. Angelo as Ramirez * Samantha Benavides as Sam * Joshua Bobb as Barry's son |-| Uncredited= Uncredited * Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca Featured Music *'We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, And Me)' by The Ink Spots *'The Shadow of Your Smile' by Oscar Peterson *'Dark Clouds Rain Soul (Dub)' by Breakestra *'Sicilienne, Op. 78' by Gabriel Fauré Memorable Quotes es:Lantern Category:Season 4 episodes (Better Call Saul)